The Babbler, who was a few paces in advance, suddenly uttered a cry.
"Eh!" said the general, "what extraordinary thing has happened, Master Babbler, to induce you to speak?"
"The bees, señor."
"What! bees! are there bees here?"
"Yes; but lately only."
"How only lately?"
"Why, you know, of course, that bees were brought into America by the whites."
"That, I know. How is it, then, they are met with here?"
"Nothing more simple; the bees are the advanced sentinels of the whites. In proportion as the whites penetrate into the interior of America, the bees go forward to trace the route for them, and point out the clearings. Their appearance in an uninhabited country always presages the arrival of a colony of pioneers or squatters."
"That is something strange," the general murmured; "are you sure of what you are telling me?"